Ryder James - Birth Story.

I haven't posted on this blog in over a year, and a LOT has happened in that year. I'm not even going to try to play catch up, but in the interest of preserving a memory, I want to write about one major event.

Last December, I got pregnant. Very unexpectedly pregnant. It was a shock to both Gairod and I, and we both struggled to accept it, as we were both very happy to be done and out of the baby stage!

After an emotional few weeks, Gairod started to accept the pregnancy. I did not. I struggled mentally and emotionally the whole. entire. time. Literally, on the day I was getting induced, I was worried about how I was mentally going to handle labour and delivery. I didn't want to be pregnant, but I also didn't want to have a baby!

We now have a beautiful baby boy. He is a perfect, precious, little being, and I honestly can not imagine life without him in it. I love him more than words can express, and I feel terribly guilty for the 9 months I spent not wanting him.

Here is his birth story:

I had an uneventful, routine pregnancy, and I went overdue, which is typical for me. So at 41 weeks exactly, my doctor scheduled me in for an induction, at 9:30am, on Thursday August 29th.

Gairod and I got to the hospital at 9:30am, and were told that they were extremely busy, and not starting any inductions yet. They told us to go get something to eat, and come back in an hour. So we walked across the street to Tim Hortons, and anxiously waited. At 10:30am we came back, and were told they were still too busy, so we had to wait in the waiting area. Another hour passed, and we still weren't called back. I was feeling frustrated. I wanted to hurry up and get things started! With Sage, our induction was scheduled for 9:30am. They inserted the foley catheter at 11am, and I had her by 10pm. I was really hoping for a similar, or slightly shorter timeline! It was now 11:30am, and we hadn't even gotten back into triage yet, so we were already running behind my hoped for timeline!

At 11:45am, they finally called us back. They monitored the baby for about half an hour, and then we just had to wait for the doctor to come and start the induction.

When the doctor came in, there was a bit of confusion, and she thought I was only 38 weeks pregnant, and wasn't sure why they were inducing me. She was rather rude, and was arguing with me about how pregnant I was, based on what she was reading in my file. I think she had the wrong file! She checked my cervix, and said "You're not even ripe for induction". She was really pissing me off! I already felt frustrated from getting started so late, and now she was telling me I wasn't going to induce well! She finally went and called MY doctor, to get things figured out. She came back and apologized, and said that yes, I was 41 weeks pregnant, and supposed to be getting induced. 

So at 1pm, they inserted the Foley catheter. (If anyone is actually reading this, and doesn't know what a Foley catheter is, it's a catheter that is closed at one end, that they insert into your cervix. They fill the one end with saline, creating a balloon, which then starts to put pressure on your cervix, and uses your bodies own hormones to induce labour. The pressure on your cervix makes you start to contract and dialate. When you reach 3-4 cms, the catheter will fall out when you stand, or easily come out when gently pulled on.) They monitored the baby for another half hour, and I started to feel some light contractions right away.

At 1:45pm, they moved us to the antipardom unit, to sit and wait. It can take SEVERAL hours to reach 3-4 cms, but it only took 3.5 hours with Sage, so I was hoping this one would be similar! Unfortunately, I was wrong.

I was having contractions, but they were inconsistent in strength and length apart. I was tired of sitting in bed, so we would get up and walk the halls, but that only seemed to weaken my contractions!

By 6pm, my contractions finally seemed to be getting more regular. They had been consistently 5 minutes apart since about 5:20pm.

By 8pm, my contractions were getting stronger, and were 3-5 minutes apart. It was now 7 hours since we started my induction, and I was feeling very frustrated. My catheter hadn't come out yet, so I knew I wasn't even at 3 cms yet.  I was already feeling tired, physically and mentally, and I was worried about how I was going to do this all night! In the back of my mind I was also worried that I wouldn't progress at all, and would end up with a c-section. I told Gairod I just wanted to quit and go home. We could have a good nights sleep, and come back in another day or two!

At 9:30pm, the nurse came in to monitor the baby. It was in a weird position, and she was having a hard time keeping the monitor on the heart beat. At about 10pm, she got me to turn on my side, so she could pick it up better. As soon as I turned on my side, my contractions started getting stronger, longer, and closer together. It was to the point that I had to really concentrate and breath to get through them! At this point, I told Gairod that when we got to the Labour and Delivery unit, I was getting an epidural. My contractions were really strong, and we still had a LONG way to go. I've never had an epidural before, but if this was going to last all night, I wanted to be able to at least get some rest!

At 11pm, when the nurse came back in to take the monitors off, I asked her when she was going to check my catheter. She said she wasn't, it would just fall out when I stood, or come out when I went to the bathroom. (With Sage, the nurse tried pulling on it, and it came out.) I had been laying down for the past several hours, so obviously It didn't have a chance to fall out from standing, and I didn't know that I could go to the bathroom! (I'd had to pee for quite awhile!) So I got up and went to the bathroom, and the catheter fell out! I got Gairod to go tell the nurse, and ask her to come and check me. My contractions were now very strong, and only 1-2 minutes apart.

At 11:15pm, the nurse checked me, and I was 4 cms. At this point my contractions were so strong I was starting to feel kind of delerious. The nurse said it was time to transfer me to the Labour and Delivery unit.

At 11:30pm, a nurse from L&D came and got me. Everyone was moving pretty fast, as they thought I was going to progress quite quickly!

At 11:45pm, the doctor asked if I wanted her to break my water, or if I wanted an epidural. I said that depends, how much longer is this going to take?! And she said if we break my water, things are going to happen pretty quickly. So I said let's just break my water! So she broke my water, and checked me, I was still at 4 cms.

At 12am, I was starting to feel pressure with my contractions. The nurse checked me, and I was 7-8 cms. The nurse thought the baby was in a weird position. I was kind of on my side, because they were trying to monitor the baby, but I was really uncomfortable, and finally asked if I could lay flat on my back with my feet in the stirrups. As soon as I switched positions, at 12:20am, I was at 10 cms, and pushing. This was a first for me! I've never actually had to push my babies out. With Jade and Sage, once I hit 7 cms, my body was pushing on its own, and they just came out! With this one, because of the weird position it was in, I actually had to push!

At 12:29am, on Friday August 30, 2013, I delivered a baby boy! (We didn't find out what we were having until he was born) He weighed 6lbs 14ozs (the smallest of any of my singletons!), and was 20 inches long. We named him Ryder James. He had meconium right at birth, and his first apgar was only a 4, but they got him all suctioned out, and his second apgar was a 9.

As soon as the nurse handed him to me, I was in love. The last 9 months melted away, and I knew that this sweet little boy was meant to be in our family.

I still can't believe how fast everything went once I finally hit active labour. It took 10 hours to get to 4 cms, but it only took 1.5 hours to get from 4 cms to delivery!!

We are now 9 days in, and obviously still adjusting to life with a newborn again! But I love this little boy, and anytime I'm feeling frustrated or overwhelmed, all I have to do is look at his sweet face, and I just know that everything will be okay. We may not have planned this, but obviously it was meant to be, and I am excited to see what our future holds, with our precious 6th addition, Ryder.